The nation's largest public refrigerated warehouse operator Americold Realty Trust ("Americold"), Atlanta, said it launched an initial public offering of 43 million common shares of beneficial interest, par value $0.01 per share.

Officials said the initial public offering price is expected to be between $14.00 and $16.00 per share.  Americold's common shares have been approved for listing on The New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "ACRE."  The underwriters have the option to purchase from Americold up to an additional 6,450,000 common shares.

Americold said it intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to finance the acquisition and consolidation into its portfolio of certain warehouses and operations of Versacold International Corporation in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina, to pay fees, expenses and taxes incurred in connection with its initial public offering and for general corporate purposes.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. will act as joint book-running managers for the offering, with Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., RBC Capital Markets Corporation and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC acting as co-lead managers.